How to wake up in the morning. Do you wake up grumpy or do you wake up happy? Here are some tips.

Wake up, Be Happy!! Happy is good. Grumpy generally not so good. Both are states of mind. Both can be manipulated with practice and desire. So wake up, be happy. Or wake up and be grumpy.

On my two days off from happy I am not grumpy I am serene. Not happy more like blissful.

Here are things that have little effect on how you wake up: Amount of sleep. Quality of sleep. General Health, money, weather, job, stress. "Strange" you may be thinking. Those things effect my mood and my affect greatly. Why don't they effect my attitude when I wake up. Sometimes it is not where you are at, that has the greatest impact but where you are headed.

Oops I just gave away this whole article. If you think deeply about that last sentence you will conclude and understand the whole concept of waking up happy.

I like speaking of 3-5 year olds they can relate but they still act in a "if I do this then I get that" direct and honest fashion. And the are great believers in the power of anticipation. I have found over the years that a child will wake up the way you program him to. If he wakes up and immediately feels in need of something you can offer him he will act in accordance with a proven method to get that.

Most two parent households have on parent that rewards good behavior and ignores negative for the most part. And one parent that rewards good behavior and sympathizes with grumpiness, crying and wants of the whim. Of course life is a blend and in a healthy situation those are just leanings not compulsive behaviors. I refer to the first as the dad and the second as a mom. I certainly do not suggest that as a rule by any means, just an easy way to talk about it.

If his mom is not home when he wakes up and he is used to her being home. There is concern. And then the child shakes it off and moves on. Because he knows that with dad his whining and grumpiness will just be ignored. If mom is home and he is groggy as he wakes up whining and crying will get him through this patch of tough time with whatever he asks for.

So we teach the child how to wake up.

For sure for sure. A baby needs to be feed every few hours. A baby needs hugs and to be held. So when a baby wakes up it cries out. Saying feed me, hold me, change me. That is how it works and it works well for the parent also as an alarm that the baby is up and needs these things. Cool huh! Well that is an instinct that we seriously need to gradually teach a child out of. Sometimes it is hard for good moms to do that. And harder for them to teach themselves out of responding to it.

The fact that it is difficult means that it will come gradually. And that is another amazing fact. Because of the desire of a mom to be needed like that. She resists the changes. That is awesome because it causes a gentle well developed change.

I used the child because it is so obvious in them but it is really a metaphor for adults. How much of that instinct did we retain when it was no longer necessary or practical.

Think about this: When most adults get up, they still need to go to the bathroom (get changed), get something to eat (be fed) and it is most healthy to get some warm fuzzies (be hugged and held)

Anticipation. Yep that simple. What can you hardly wait to get out of bed to do? ( pee pee aside ;-) Well if your answer is nothing chances are you will wake up instinctual and not as you should have been nurtured to do. Grumpy. This time of year I get up early and one reason is the beautiful predawn autumn sky. I just love Orion up there next to the moon. A cup of coffee and a stare into the heavens and baby I am good to go. So I can hardly wait to get up. I really like my quiet time in the morning. If I put off getting up I miss it because the house interferes with that later on. I over imagine how good that tea or coffee is, but it works I just love my first few cups.

Before my boy goes to sleep at night we always talk about something fun to do tomorrow. Some say that gets a child to excited to sleep. Bull, just do it in a cheery mellow way and then close off with "you better get a lot of sleep so you will be ready". Food is a great thing to look forward to in the morning.